Mayor Adams’ reelection campaign received about $250,000 in donations during the most recent reporting period — significantly less than several of his challengers — but his team downplayed the dip as the result of a fundraising pause in fall 2024.
Vito Pitta, an attorney for Adams, disclosed the haul for the latest period on Wednesday morning before the expected submission of the campaign’s full filing.
Pitta didn’t delve into detail on how much money Adams’ campaign has on hand, or say how much it might have spent in the latest period, which spanned from Oct. 8 through this past Saturday.
Pitta did say the $250,000 rolled in after Adams started fundraising again in mid-December.
Adams paused 2025 campaign fundraising operations in mid-October after his team said he had received enough private cash to meet the $7.9 million spending max with public matching funds factored in.
But the Campaign Finance Board then denied Adams matching funds on Dec. 16 due to concerns about his federal corruption indictment. The indictment, to which Adams has pleaded not guilty, alleges he took illegal campaign cash and bribes, mostly from Turkish government operatives, in exchange for political favors.
Adams’ campaign is expected to appeal the CFB’s decision, but Pitta indicated in a statement Wednesday that Adams will keep fundraising in coming months in the event that the matching fund denial stands.
“We expect that number to grow significantly in the near future and are well-positioned to have the maximum amount to spend,” Pitta said.
The Democratic mayoral primary in which Adams faces a sprawling field of challengers is set for June 24.
In a sign the mayor may be preparing for an election cycle without matching funds, he held a reelection campaign fundraiser attended by cryptocurrency executives in Puerto Rico in December where he asked attendants to give $3,850 each. Candidates who participate in the matching funds program can only accept $2,100 individual donations, but the cap’s lifted to $3,850 for those who opt out of the program.
As of the Oct. 7 end of the last reporting period, Adams — who started fundraising for his reelection shortly after taking office in January 2022 — had pulled in about $4.1 million total in private funds for his 2025 campaign, with $3.1 million in cash on hand.
Several of the candidates challenging Adams in this year’s mayoral elections raised more than he did in the latest fundraising period.
Assignment ? RIKERS
The includes Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who raked in $642,339 from 6,502 individual donors after launching his mayoral bid on Oct. 22, making him eligible for some $2.4 million in public matching funds, according to his campaign.
Independent mayoral candidate Jim Walden raised nearly as much in the latest window, pulling in $630,000. He has not yet met the thresholds for public matching funds, though.
Full fundraising disclosures for all 2025 mayoral candidates, including Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer, Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and Queens Assemblywoman Jessica Ramos, are due Wednesday. Stringer, Lander and Myrie all say they have as of this filing met the requirements to receive public matching funds.
An updated financial disclosure for Adams’ legal defense trust — which he uses to cover attorney fees racked up in his corruption case — is also due Wednesday.
Pitta wouldn’t divulge any preliminary details about the trust’s latest filing other than to say Adams hasn’t actively fundraised for the fund in recent months.
The trust was already low on cash as of the last filing in mid-October amid mounting legal bills and a slowdown in donations. At the time, Pitta said the trust expected an uptick in donations as “interest is strong.”
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